1. Field
The present invention relates generally to facies classification and more particularly to facies classification based on pattern recognition.
2. Background
Borehole log data is collected via a number of techniques including resistivity/conductivity measurements, ultrasound, NMR, and radiation scattering, for example. Conventionally, borehole data is analyzed by human interpreters in order to characterize a subsurface geological formation to allow decisions to be made regarding the potential of a well or to determine information about the nature of the surrounding geologic area.
Systems have been proposed for automated interpretation of log data including supervised machine learning processes based on pre-classified training sets. These systems generally employ back-propagation neural nets and decision tree methods. An example of a rule-based machine learning classification approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,620,498 to Kowalik.